Stay With Me
by FireyIceGirl
Summary: After a bad argument gone worse with his father, Hiccup decides to leave. He was thought never to be seen again. But, years later, Berk is in serious trouble. People have started disappearing. Will Berk's hero return home to save his people, or will he stay away and let Berk be slowly destroyed? First fanfic
1. The Argument

**Hi! This is my first fanfic, I know it's probably not very good. But I hope you enjoy!**

**Sorry if there's any OOC!**

**I do not own HTTYD**

**Review please!**

**Chapter One- The Argument **

* * *

The wind blows in his face as he rides his dragon at top speed. The sky is a pinkish purple around the setting sun. Clouds of light pink, ocean becoming a deeper blue. The waves spray him as he glides close to them. He has a white-knuckle grip on the saddle, trying to keep himself from flying back. Hiccup steers Toothless up into the clouds, and slows their speed. "You getting tired bud?" He asks his dragon as they glide through the clouds. Toothless moans and shakes his head. Hiccup laughs. "Okay, one more hour." He tells the night fury.

The wind blows in his face as he rides his dragon at top speed. The sky is a pinkish purple around the setting sun. Clouds of light pink, ocean becoming a deeper blue. The waves spray him as he glides close to them. He has a white-knuckle grip on the saddle, trying to keep himself from flying back. Hiccup steers Toothless up into the clouds, and slows their speed. "You getting tired bud?" He asks his dragon as they glide through the clouds. Toothless moans and shakes his head. Hiccup laughs. "Okay, one more hour." He tells the night fury.

Many hours later, Hiccup is still flying on his dragon when he feels a snowflake land on his hand. "Uh oh." He says. He pats Toothless on the head gently, enough to get his attention. "Time to go home." Hiccup then notices night has fallen around him, the moon full and high in the sky, just barely seen through the oncoming snow clouds. Hiccup also then realizes he was supposed to be home hours ago. Stoick is going to be very angry with Hiccup.

He sighs and steers Toothless home, hoping his father won't yell at him again.

* * *

He tries to be as quiet as he can, sneaking into the house. He softly opens and closes the front door. Toothless has already climbed into Hiccup's bedroom window, not making a sound. He successfully makes it to the seventh stair before he hears his father's door slam open. "HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD!" Stoick's voice booms, full of anger.

Oh no, Hiccup thinks, I'm in deep trouble this time.

He turns to his father, a nervous smile on his face. "Hey, Dad." He says. His father stands there, fuming for just a moment. "Care to explain why you are so very late for the tenth time this month?" Stoick's voice is full of anger, but he's no longer yelling.

He is angry, Hiccup hadn't been coming home at sundown for a while now. He knows Stoick worries about him being out after dark, he has reminded Hiccup so many times, then Hiccup doesn't listen and get home hours after dark many times. Stoick is fed up with it to be honest.

Hiccup laughs nervously. "Funny story really…" He trails off. Stoick crosses his arms on his chest, a peeved look on his face, waiting for Hiccup's excuse this time. Hiccup tries to think of a way out of this conversation. He decides to fake a yawn. "Boy, I'm beat, I'll just head up to my room and go to sleep. I'll explain tomorrow!" Hiccup bolts up the stairs and closes his door before Stoick could say anything. He looks at his night fury.

"I am so dead tomorrow."

* * *

Hiccup wakes up to the sound of thumps on his rooftop. Toothless is jumping up and down and roaring, full of energy, wanting to go on their usual morning flight. Things start to shake because of Toothless' jumping. Hiccup sighs, not wanting to get out of bed. He pulls on his fur vest he always wears. He then makes his way down the steps, trying to be as quiet as possible so he won't wake Stoick. Then he'd have to explain why he was late.

He successfully makes it out the door without waking his father. He softly shuts the door and walks over to the side of the house where Toothless has jumped to the ground. "Well good morning mr. bossy." Hiccup says, petting the dragon on the head. Toothless coos. He gets the saddle and starts putting it on Toothless. With one final click the saddle was on the night fury and ready to be put to use.

Hiccup shivers a bit, finally noticing the cold. There is a thick blanket of snow on Berk this morning. The rooftops of the houses have a thin layer of ice on them, so slippery even a dragon's talons couldn't get a good grip on it. No one has shoveled any snow yet, so Hiccup couldn't see the dirt road somewhere underneath the blanket of snow.

He then mounts and takes off into the clouds, Toothless roaring in excitement. Hiccup rubs his dragon's head, glad to be flying and not arguing with Stoick again. Hiccup understands that his father is worried about him, Stoick has already lost his wife, he doesn't want to lose his only son too.

But what Hiccup doesn't understand is why his father is always trying to keep him out of trouble, he's always getting into trouble, he's a magnet for trouble.

As Hiccup hears the horn signaling for the dragon riders to meet at the academy, he can't help but smile. He steers Toothless toward the training center and leans closer to the dragon, indicating to Toothless that he wants to go faster.

When he nears the academy, he sees Astrid already there. As always, she is the first person there. Hiccup gives a small yelp when Toothless decides it will be more fun to enter the academy by walking upside-down on the entrance. When they are right-side up again, Hiccup climbs off of Toothless, and greets her.

"Hey Astrid."

"Hi Hiccup."

"Ready for today's lesson?" He asks, getting things they would be using.

She smirks. "Absolutely."

The other riders arrive and Hiccup begins his lesson which, of course, leads to Snotlout questioning why Hiccup is leader and not himself.

"I just don't get it!" Snotlout says. "He's scrawny and cowardly and I'm strong and brave. Why does he get to be leader of the academy?"

"Okay, first of all, Snotlout, shut up." Astrid says, annoyed. "Second of all, if you were leader, you would probably burn down Berk in one day."

"Astrid's right. You're too violent Snotlout, you don't think before you act." Fishlegs interjects.

"I'm too violent? Have you met Astri-" She punches him in the face.

"Ooh! He's down! Do it to me Ruff!" Tuffnut says. Ruffnut gladly punches him in the face. "Harder! I wanna see stars." Astrid balls her fists. "I'll punch you so hard you'll wake up in next week if you don't shut up!" She says to Tuffnut.

Hiccup rolls his eyes and sighs in annoyance. This is going to be a long lesson.

* * *

After the lesson was over, Hiccup is putting things away when Gobber walks into the academy. "Hiccup! How are you doing?" Gobber says. Gobber's not one for small talk, so Hiccup sees right through him, and he gets straight to the point. "What's wrong Gobber?" He asks, turning away from putting thing away.

Gobber sighs, caught. "Your father wants to speak to you. He seemed angry." Hiccup groaned, "Can't he just let it go? Sure I've been late a couple times this month, but I'm always fine!" Gobber shakes his head, "He just worries about ya."

"I know but-" Hiccup groans. "Whatever, I'll go when I finish here." Gobber just nods and walks away without another word.

Hiccup finishes rather quickly, mounts Toothless and heads home. When he arrives home, Stoick is waiting for him in front of the fire. "Well, you're home rather early." Is the first thing he says when Hiccup walks in. Hiccup sighs. "Look Dad, I'm sor-"

"You should be. What will you do when you're chief? You cannot be late when you become chief."

"Dad, I know, I'm sor-" Hiccup tries to interject, wanting this conversation to be over.

"Do you not remember what has happened when you didn't come home on time?" Stoick questions. "You've been kidnapped-"

"Dad, I can take care of myself. You know that. Yeah, I've been kidnapped but I'm always fine-" Hiccup interrupts.

"And what if one day you're not? What if one day I'm standing at your funeral?" Stoick cuts him off. He just wants his son and heir to be okay, to be more careful of things. Hiccup is the only son he has, and the only thing his wife left him when she died. Stoick can't let anything happen to him.

"I'm really sick of arguing, Dad, can I ju-"

"I'm banning you from flying." Stoick says bluntly, and Hiccup stands gaping. He can't ban Hiccup from flying, it is the only time he can get away from the madness that is Berk. But Stoick obviously doesn't understand that, he has just banned him from flying.

"You can't do that!" Hiccup exclaims, getting angry himself.

"Can't I?"

Hiccup turns on his heel and makes his way to the door. "Where do you think you're going?" Stoick says, getting up from his seat. Hiccup turns and looks him straight in the eye, anger present in his own. "Flying."

"Hiccup," Stoick warns. Hiccup has done some pretty stupid things in the past, but he never acts like this with his father. "You can't take it away from me, it's the only time I can get away from everyone, everything!" Hiccup nearly yells, then opens the door.

"I swear, Hiccup. If you walk out that door, don't you dare come back." Stoick says warningly.

The door slams behind him.

* * *

As Hiccup is putting things in his satchel, Astrid walks up to him. "Hey Hiccup," she notices the things that are being put in the satchel. "Are you going somewhere?" She asks, but Hiccup doesn't look at her, but does stop what he's doing. She places a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?" She asks, his grip tightens on the canteen of water that he's holding. She's never seen him this angry.

He finally looks up at her. "I'm leaving." He says, tears forming in his eyes. She understands, he needs to get away sometimes for a few days.

"When are you coming back?" She asks. He looks away, and this worries her. "Hiccup, you are coming back, right?" It takes him a moment to meet her eyes again.

"I don't know."

She looks at him and can see the sadness and hurt in his eyes. "Another fight?" He nods. This one must have been bad if Hiccup doesn't know when he's coming back. Must be the worst yet.

"Just-just promise me one thing?" She asks him, and he nods. "I don't care when, just promise you'll come back home one day." He looks away for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to make that promise. He knows he will have to keep this promise. Then he looks straight in her eyes. "I promise." He kisses her cheek. "Astrid, I'll be back. Maybe not for days, weeks, months, possibly years." Hiccup wipes away a tear Astrid didn't realize has fallen. "I promise, one day I'll come back. But it won't be for a while."

She pulls him into a hug, knowing what he is saying is true. The look in his eyes tells her he won't be back for a long while.

When they pull away Hiccup mounts Toothless and takes off. But he doesn't look back.

* * *

**A/N~ So that was it! Chapter two is coming soon it will be set about 5 years after this.**


	2. The Disappearances

**Hi! I'm back with the second chapter for you! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Sorry for any OOCs**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 2 - The Disappearances**

* * *

A few months after Hiccup left, Stoick was getting worried and sent the riders to look for him. But they never found him. Astrid took over as leader, after basically beating Snotlout to the ground, and tried to keep the academy together best she could. It went well for a while, then everything went downhill. The academy fell apart. The five riders just couldn't function right without Hiccup. They searched for him, even Snotlout. They searched Berk, and many other islands. But they couldn't found Hiccup, he obviously didn't want to be found.

The riders stopped the lessons, and stopped training dragons. Stoick went on chiefing, but terribly missed his son. He always regretted what he had said to Hiccup last. He always wished he could go back and change what he said, then maybe Hiccup would still be here.

But that was 5 years ago now. The riders never found Hiccup. So one day they just gave up. The academy closed down and they split. Their dragons left, just one day flew off, no one could go stop them, and no one knew where they were headed.

It had been so long since anyone had seen or even heard from Hiccup. So, they assumed the worst. Everyone thought Hiccup was dead, everyone except Astrid.

He had promised her he'd come back, and she's still waiting for him to fulfill his promise.

* * *

"Stoick!" The villagers are shouting. "What are we going to do? Our food source is disappearing!" The animals are starting to disappear without a trace. No blood, no fur, and no noise. It's like they were never there. Berk is starting to worry, if they don't have enough food how will they survive winter?

"Everyone! Calm down! I have Astrid looking into it." Stoick says, looking over at Astrid in the far corner, her arms crossed. She has been helping Stoick in situations where he would've needed Hiccup. She has picked up things from Hiccup before he left.

She still thinks about him everyday, wondering when he's coming home. She hopes he will return soon. Everyone needs him right now.

After the Great Hall meeting, Astrid is walking down the dirt path. She doesn't really know where she's going, but her legs take her to the old training academy. Tears spring to her eyes as she walks in the entrance. She remembers when all the riders, including Hiccup, would argue and fight. She smiles, picking up her old axe she had left when they closed the academy. She's had this axe since she was little.

She looks over to Hiccup's old shield. He had left it the last lesson he was here. She walks over to it and picks it up. The metal is cold and smooth. She can still see fading fingerprints that Hiccup left behind. Her fingers lightly trace over the details and markings.

She nearly drops it when she hears a scream. She carefully sets it down and rushes towards the scream. She is there just in time to see someone in the claws of what looked like a dragon. She hasn't seen a dragon in years. Astrid whistles for Stormfly, then realizing she hasn't seen her dragon in years. She instead runs as fast as she can towards the, dragon thing.

She manages to keep up with it until it takes a sharp turn and she loses sight of it. She didn't see who it is carrying it it's claws, but they looked young. Maybe about her age. She has to tell Stoick.

* * *

When she gets to the Chief's house, she has to stop for a moment and attempt to catch her breath. Then she knocks on the door. She's still panting when he opens the door. "Chief….another….disappearance….it was…..a….dragon!" She manages to get out.

"Astrid, slow down. Catch your breath, come in." Stoick opens the door wider so that Astrid can walk in. After she catches her breath, she tells Stoick what she saw.

"A dragon? That's crazy! We haven't seen a dragon in Berk in years!" Stoick says, looking at Astrid. She thought he wouldn't believe her, seeing as she saw a dragon, which were basically non-existent in Berk now. They still don't know why or what happened to the dragons. They just up and disappeared one day. Why would there be one here, on Berk?

"I swear, Stoick. It was definitely a dragon. But I didn't recognize it." Astrid says. "It was fast. It had large wings, at least 40 feet wingspan. It was blue, with a white circle on it's head. It's eyes were nothing like any dragon I've ever seen. They looked like ours, only larger." She describes it. She is right, it is like no dragon they've ever encountered.

"Did you see who or what it took?"

"No, but I know it wasn't an animal this time." She says. She tries to remember who it was. "The scream sounded like a man's, but I could be wrong." Stoick nods.

"Thank you Astrid. I'll wait until tomorrow to see if anyone's missing." Astrid nods and says goodbye. She walks out the door.

* * *

"I swear it! I saw it with my own two eyes!" Snotlout says to all the vikings crowded around him. He crosses his arms and smirks proudly to himself. "No! It couldn't be!" echos through the crowd. Astrid sees this and pushes through. She looks at all the vikings looking in awe at Snotlout like some miracle has happened.

"What's going on?" She questions, crossing her own arms. Snotlout smirks.

"I saw a dragon last night." He seems proud of himself.

"So? That doesn't mean anything." She says, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"There was someone standing beside it."

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying, I don't care if you believe me or not." He says, smiling. She gets angry at his smug smile. She punches him in the face so hard that he's out cold on the dirt path. She then storms away. Snotlout was lying, all he wants is attention. Right?

* * *

Everyone is called to the Great Hall early the next day. There is an announcement about the recent disappearances. Everyone is talking about what it could be. Maybe they've found out where their animals have been taken. Maybe they know what's taking them. No one's really sure. There's a loud bang near the fire pit. Stoick and Astrid are standing, waiting for everyone to quiet down. Once they're quiet Stoick speaks.

"As you all know, there have been some disappearances of our animals lately." Stoick begins. "But yesterday it was one of us." There are audible gasps. "We're not sure who just yet, but we know what it was that took them."

"It was a dragon." Astrid states.

For a moment there is nothing but silence. Then it erupts into chaos.

"It can't be!"

"Dragons haven't been here in years!"

"Impossible!"

"Everyone! Quiet!" Stoick shouts, banging his fist on the edge of the fire pit. The viking cease talking nearly immediately.

"Right now we need to find out who it took." Stoick says. "Who has not been seen since yesterday?"

Everyone is silent. Then someone speaks out in the back. "I haven't seen Tuffnut since yesterday." It is Ruffnut, her voice is shaking. Astrid hasn't seen her in a long while. When the riders split, they basically avoided each other.

"Before we decide it was Tuffnut who was taken, I would like to know if anyone else has not been seen or if someone has indeed seen Tuffnut since yesterday." Stoick says. There's nothing but silence.

Stoick sighs. "Then it is decided. Tuffnut is the one who has been kidnapped." He turns to Astrid. "Have you noticed any patterns between the disappearances?"

Astrid thinks for a moment. "Actually, yes. I have. They've all been taken around sunset."

"Thank you Astrid," Stoick says. "I want my best men guarding the houses and animal pens today. Everyone dismissed." Everyone slowly disperses, murmuring complaints in the process.

* * *

"Hey, Ruffnut." Astrid says, walking up to Ruffnut who is sitting with Tuffnut's mace in her hands. "Oh, hey Astrid." She says, looking up. Astrid sits down next to her. "Are you okay?" Ruffnut doesn't respond, she's looking at the axe in her hands, Tuffnut called it Macie. Astrid puts a hand on her shoulder, "Ruffnut?"

"What- oh, yeah I'm fine."

"Come on, Ruff. You know you can talk to me."

Ruffnut sighs and puts the axe down. "It's not like I miss Tuffnut, 'cause I don't. I miss beating him up." Astrid smiles and puts her arm around Ruffnut's shoulders. "Well, what do you say we go yak-tipping?"

"Okay, I guess."

* * *

Astrid and Ruffnut are having fun, they're rolling yaks down hills, scaring the yak to where it falls over in fear. They were laughing, holding their stomachs. "Did that," Astrid tries to say while trying to stop laughing. "Did that make you feel better?"

Ruffnut stops laughing so hard to answer her, "Yeah, thanks Astrid. You're the best." She gives her a hug. When they pull away they start walking back into Berk. The sun is beginning to set, so they walk quickly. There are guards at every home, and every pen. They say hello to each guard.

Astrid sees something in the distance, just beyond the horizon of the island.

It's coming towards Berk.

And it looks all too familiar.

She grabs Ruffnut's hand and pulls her toward the chief's house. She bangs on the door until he answers. "Hammer of Thor! Astrid!" Stoick says when he opens the door.

"Stoick," She takes a breath. "Dragon. Here. Now."

"Now?"

She nods, hands on her knees still trying to catch her breath. Stoick runs out the door, slamming it behind him. "Everyone! Inside now! The dragon is here!" Vikings scream and scramble for the shelter of their houses. They all make it safely to their homes, except for one. That viking isn't so lucky.

He is in the dragons talons. They try everything. They throw boulders, spears, daggers, maces. Nothing seems to stop the thing.

Then they hear something.

Something that makes them freeze.

A violet blast hits the dragon. Something whizzes past it, too fast to see. And the roar-the roar is so familiar. The high pitch noise comes again, louder this time. A flash of red. A flash of silver.

Someone yells. "Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

Astrid stands there, gaping.

Another blast of violet, and the dragon drops the viking. Then something whizzes past and catches him. It does a loop and lands, right in the middle of the small town. It is indeed a Night Fury, but it's nothing like the one Hiccup had. It seems stronger, tougher. The viking gets off, a bit dazed. "T-Thank you."

The rider only nods, but his face is hidden underneath a mask. It covers his whole face, the only thing you can see are the eyes. The eyes. They are a beautiful forest green. They stare at Astrid and Stoick.

The viking are starting to come out of their houses, standing around the stranger.

The stranger gets off the dragon. He rubs the dragons head and says something to it, but his voice is muffled by the mask. He is about six feet tall and has detailed armor on his torso with brown pants.

The eyes scan over the crowd. The dragon growls, eyes meer slits. He rubs the dragons head again and says something else to it. The dragon immediately pounces on the stranger, everyone gasps. Then, the dragon starts licking him. He has to roll out from under the dragon and stands up. He tries to wipe the slobber off him. He balls his fists when it doesn't come off.

"Seriously? You know that doesn't wash out!" He yells at the dragon, his voice is audible this time. Nobody recognizes the voice. The dragon makes a noise like he's laughing.

That's when the stranger notices everyone looking at him. He attempts to wipe the rest of the slobber off and flicks what he can get off at the dragon. The dragon also notices there are viking standing around them. It growls at them, wrapping its tail near the stranger, as if almost protecting him. The frightened vikings take a step back, but not Astrid or Stoick.

The stranger pulls out something from the satchel on the dragon, it was a small dragon. To be more specific, a Terrible Terror. He then walks over to Fishlegs and hands it to him, Fishlegs takes it carefully. The masked stranger whispers something in Fishlegs' ear and Fishlegs looks at him curiously.

He walks back over to his dragon and begins to mount for flight. But Stoick walks up to his back and taps him on the shoulder. This scares the man and he whips around, flaming sword in hand. When he sees it's Stoick he lowers the sword. Stoick glares down at the man.

"Who are you?"

That question seems to make the stranger realize he shouldn't be there, and drops the still flaming sword. He then scrambles to get on the dragon. But Stoick grabs his collar, and holds him up and looks him straight in the eye. The stranger's night fury begins to growl, but stops when the stranger puts a hand up, as if saying it's okay.

"I'll ask you one more time. Who are you?" Stoick asks threateningly.

"I'm sorry." The stranger says, voice barely recognizable or audible.

"Wh-" Stoick begins, but the stranger pulls a dagger out of the arm of his armor and cuts Stoick's wrist that's connected to the hand that is holding him up, then drops the dagger when he's thrown to the ground. The Night Fury rushes over to him, nudging him to see if he's okay. When the stranger gets up he quickly gets on the dragon and mounts himself.

"Wait!" Astrid screams, running up to the stranger. The stranger stops and turns to Astrid. "Just tell me who you are! Please." She says. He squeezes his eyes shut for a second. Then he says only loud enough for her to hear, "I'm sorry." He takes off, gone from sight in only a few seconds.

* * *

Gothi is stitching Stoick's wound closed. It is a pretty deep cut. Stoick squeezes his eyes shut and sucks in a breath. The door opens and Stoick looks up.

"I've got the dagger and the flaming sword." She says, walking in holding the two items the stranger left behind. "I think you'll be interested in the markings on the dagger." She hands it to him and he takes it with his good hand and sees what she's talking about.

It's a Berk crest engraved on the dagger.

Where could he have gotten this from? It couldn't be…

Fishlegs walks in, the Terrible Terror on his shoulder. "Y-You asked to see me?" He stutters. Gothi finishes wrapped the cloth around the stitches. "Yes. I wanted to know what that man told you." Stoick winces when he attempts to move his hand.

"It-it didn't make any sense." Fishlegs says. "He said, 'I hope you remember this' then handed me the Terror." He scratches the small dragon's chin. "What is that supposed to mean?" Astrid asks. Fishlegs shrugs. Then he freezes, realizing something.

"I need a piece of paper and something to write with." He looks around the room and finds what he's looking for. He quickly jots down something and rolls up and ties it on the Terrible Terror's leg. He walks outside and releases the small dragon and it flies away, knowing where to go. Stoick and Astrid follow him out and watch.

"What was that?" Astrid asks.

He smiles. "Airmail."

* * *

**A/N~ What did you think of it? Should I unmask the stranger, or let him be?**

**I'll try to update soon, maybe in the next two/three days. At most four.**


	3. The Letter

**Hey! **

**There's some OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 3 - The Letter**

* * *

A few days later, Stoick, Gobber, and Astrid are discussing what to do about the dragon when Fishlegs burst through. He's panting, hand on his knees, in his other hand is a rolled up piece of paper. "My gods, Fishlegs!" Astrid says, standing up. "What's the matter?"

Fishlegs manages to catch his breath. "I just got something back!" He waves the piece of paper. "Well tell us what it says, boy." Gobber says, waving his hook.

"It's just a picture of a dragon," Fishlegs says. "It says it's called the Echotri. It says it takes its victims for food, it's like a cannibal. It can only come out when the sun is at it's lowest point, but can't come out when the moon is out, which explains why it came at sunset. Um. Wingspan, forty feet. It breathes this mist that hypnotizes you into going with it willingly. It has no known weaknesses"

"An Echotri? A new dragon?" Astrid says. Hiccup would love this, she thinks.

"Let me see that, Fishlegs." Stoicks says, and Fishlegs hands it to him. He looks it over, but cannot read it. "How did you read this Fishlegs?" Fishlegs' brow furrows. "What do you mean? It's in viking." Astrid takes a look at it. "He's right. How can you read this?"

"What? Let me see it again." Fishlegs says, and Stoick hands him the paper. He looks it over again. "Oh! Sorry. It's in a different language." Fishlegs squints. "It's a modified version of dragon language. No one uses that anymore!"

"Who would use this? Who could remember it?" Stoick says, taking back the paper and looking at it again. "It's been years."

"It also says to send the Terror back if we need help." Fishlegs says, pointing to a jumble of unknown symbols at the bottom of the page. "We might have to do that if this gets worse. We could use some help right now." Fishlegs points out.

"Yeah. But who's help?"

* * *

He sits on the edge of the cliff, one leg hanging off it. He sent the Terrible Terror back to the island the day before. He knows he will have to return, he knows they will send it back. They're dealing with a Echotri, those things are extremely dangerous.

He wishes he won't have to go back, but knows he will. Because he has to protect those vikings. He's just afraid. Afraid of what they might think of him. They didn't recognize him, they won't accept him. He didn't see any dragons there, but knows why.

His dragon comes up behind him and nudges him. He turns to him and smiles.

He gets up and walks away from the cliff, waiting for the Terror to arrive.

* * *

Astrid sits upon a rock, looking at the ocean. She hears screaming. She rushes to see the dragon-Echotri-grabbing a child. A child? Astrid quickly reaches for a spear and hurls it at the Echotri. It doesn't affect it at all. She notices another thing in its talons, its Gobber. He's smacking and clawing at the beast's leg, but it has no reaction. He manages to wiggle out of its grasp and fall to the ground, but he is seemingly unharmed.

It gets away with the child.

"That was my child!" A woman shrieks in horror. Astrid looks over to see the woman crying. Astrid feels bad, like she didn't try hard enough. It's like she was waiting for that masked stranger to swoop in again and save the day.

What is wrong with her? Waiting for someone to come save the day for her?

She remembers Gobber and rushes over to where he fell. He's sitting there smiling. She shakes her head and looks him over for injuries. There's nothing but minor cuts. She holds her hand out and helps him up.

"Really Gobber? What were you thinking?" Astrid says, putting her hands on her hips.

"I was thinking, hey, wouldn't it be fun to drop 60 feet to the ground." He says sarcastically.

"But seriously Gobber. You could've gotten hurt!"

"I know Astrid. But I know how that thing works now." He says, dusting himself off.

"What do you mean?"

"It got in my head." He taps the side of his head, smiling. "I know where it's going."

"Really? Where?" Astrid asks.

Gobber suddenly sways, hand going to his head. "Gobber?" He rubs his head. "Where am I?" He says drowsily. "Who are you?" He falls to the ground, unconscious. Oh no, Astrid thinks, he's got amnesia. She attempts to drag his very heavy to Gothi. When she's about half-way there, Stoick sees and helps her out.

"What happened?" Stoick asks, voice full of concern.

"I don't know. One minutes he's fine. He said something about the Echotri was in his head and he knows where it is. Then he's asking me who am I and he's passed out cold." She says to Stoick, trying to hold up Gobber's enormous feet. "I think he's got amnesia."

"Let's just get him to Gothi and hope for the best." Stoick says.

Gothi concludes Gobber does have amnesia. "She says it have been caused by the mist for the Echotri." Stoick reads what Gothi has written. "But he's going to be okay, right?" Astrid asks Gothi. She writes something in the dirt with her staff.

"She says she doesn't know. He might remember, he might stay this way." Stoick reads. "She says she can't tell if it's temporary or permanent yet."

Astrid takes a deep breath. They might lose their Gobber. Stoick might lose his best friend. Great. Just Great.

Astrid stays and helps Gothi take care of Gobber, but Stoick walks out of the hut, and heads straight for a certain house. When he gets there it takes everything in his power not to bang his fist on the door, he knocks as softly as he could, which is still loud.

Fishlegs opens up the door and jumps a little when he sees its the Chief.

Stoick says two words to Fishlegs then walks off. He hopes this is the right thing to do. It's the best chance he's got to try and save Gobber and the twins and everyone else the Echotri has taken from him and Berk.

He gets back to his lonely house and sits in his chair. He puts his head in his hands. He can't help but feel this is all his fault. He's the one who basically drove Hiccup away. He basically told him to not come back. Then the dragons left and they didn't have very good defences anymore.

It's all my fault. He keeps repeating in his head.

* * *

Astrid is cleaning Gobber's cuts when she feels him stir. She hears him groan, and takes a step back to look at him. He seems to be waking up. "Gothi, i think he's waking up!" Gothi hobbles over to where Astrid and Gobber are.

Gobber sits up, holding his head in his hand. "What-what happened?" He asks.

Gothi writes in the dirt with her staff. "She says you suffered minor cuts and a concussion. Are you okay, Gobber?" Astrid says, reading Gothi's writing. Gobber rubs his head, his face is slightly contorted in pain. "Yeah, I'm good Astrid." Gobber says after a minute.

Astrid sighs in relief. He doesn't have permanent amnesia, it was only temporary. She smiles. "Gothi, I'm going to tell Stoick. I'll be right back." She tells the old woman and walks out of the hut towards the Chief's house.

Everyone's in their houses asleep now, so it's deathly quiet. Almost too quiet. But Astrid shakes off the feeling. At night it's always deathly quiet, there's no dragons to screech anymore. She misses Stormfly. She couldn't stop her dragon when she flew away. None of the dragons were listening to their riders that day. No one's seen a dragon for years.

She gets to Stoick's house and knocks on the door. It takes him a minute to get to the door and open it. She smiles brightly at him. "Gobber's awake," she says. "And he doesn't have amnesia." Stoick smiles, relieved. "That's good."

* * *

His chest tightens. It's back. He squeezes his eyes shut and sighs.

He calls for his dragon and mounts him.

Time to go back.

* * *

Stoick and Astrid are walking back to Gothi's hut to see Gobber. It's still deathly silent in the dark. There's a bitter cold wind blowing through Berk, making it colder than normal. They finally get to Gothi's hut and see Gobber is no longer there, and Gothi is on the ground unconscious.

They rush over to her and help her up. She's in a daze, but seems to be fine other than the lump on the back of the head.

"Gothi! What happened? Where's Gobber?" Stoick asks, concern present in his voice. She writes in the dirt with her finger. "She says he knocked her out and left." Stoick reads. "But where did he go? Where would he go?" Gothi writes again.

"To the dragon."

"He must still be under it's spell." Astrid says. She grabs a mix of herbs she recognizes as pain killers and gives them to Gothi. She takes them gratefully, she's surprised Astrid recognized them so quickly. Gothi writes once again. "You need to find Gobber now, don't worry about me." Stoick reads. Astrid looks at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asks. Gothi gives a small smile and nods. Astrid sighs.

They both, reluctantly, stand and leave Gothi.

They wake the sleeping for an emergency meeting in the Great Hall.

"Gobber has been taken. A child has been taken. Tuffnut has been taken. I've had ENOUGH!" Stoick slams his good hand on the stone of the fire pit. The vikings shout "YEAH!" Their weapons held high in the air. "We are going after this dragon TONIGHT!" He yells. The viking agree.

There's a laughing in the back. Everyone quiets down, confusion present on their faces. There's gasps when they turn around, but Stoick still cannot see who it is. "LET ME SEE YOU!" The viking part so there's a clear line leading to the door.

Where the masked stranger is there with his Night fury.

"You really think you can take on a dragon you barely know about?" He asks.

Stoick just stands there, fuming. How dare that stranger laugh at him. "Oh, did you lose your friend? Gotta go get the big lug?" He teases, knowing it will make Stoick angry.

"How DARE you speak to me like that in my own domain!" Stoick yells. The stranger smiles behind his mask. He's struck a nerve. But he knows what will make him even angrier.

"Are you still sad you basically kicked your son out? Still hasn't come home, huh?"

Stoick is so mad you can see the veins in his neck. He throws a dagger straight at the man's face. The man only laughs when he catches it inches from his face. He looks at the dagger. "I was looking for this." He tucks the dagger into a pocket of his upper armor.

"Do you have my sword or..?" He asks.

How could this stranger know these things? Astrid thinks. He's missing part of his leg. I wonder…

"YOU ARE TO LEAVE THIS INSTANT!" Stoick orders, he's really mad. The stranger raises his hands in defence. "Okay, I get it. You don't want my help. Fine. I'll go. Have fun losing." He and the dragon begin to walk out the door when Astrid cries out, "WAIT!"

"Astrid, what in the name of THOR are you doing?" Stoick hisses. "We need all the help we can get."

The stranger and his dragon turn around. "How could you help us?" Astrid asks him. He screeches like a Night Fury. The Night Fury nudges him. "Oh, sorry. Living with dragons for a few years, you forget how to speak normally. I said, I've encountered this Echotri before."

"Wait, you can speak dragon?" Astrid says.

"Yes, I can." He replies.

She turns to the Chief. "Stoick, he could be useful. He can speak to dragons for Thor's sake!" She says quietly to him. "We cannot trust him, Astrid." Stoick replies. "He's disrespected us."

"I know. But we can always get rid of him if we really need to." She says. Stoick sighs. "Fine."

"We can't trust you until you take that stupid mask off and tell us your name." Astrid says to the stranger.

"Oh, you don't wanna know either of those, really-" The dragon screeches at him, interrupting the stranger. He turns and screeches back at the dragon. They continue back and forth like this, like they're arguing, and it gets louder. Everyone stares at them like it's the strangest thing they've ever seen, while the masked stranger and Night Fury continue like it's something they do everyday.

They finally seem to agree on something, because the screeching gets quieter. The stranger glares at the dragon and crosses his arms like he's lost.

"Guess who I am." He says simply. The dragon doesn't look too happy. He wacks him on the back of the head, not happy with the stranger's answer. "What?" He looks at the dragon, rubbing the back of his head. The dragon roars. "Really?" He sighs, defeated. "Fine."

"You just gotta take all the fun outta things, don't you bud?" He reaches for the mask.

Wait. Bud? Night Fury? Astrid thinks, and a light bulb goes off in her head.

"I can't believe," He says, taking the mask off and dropping it to the floor. "My own father didn't recognize me." He looks at Stoick. "Um hello? So many clues. Astrid figured it out." He says, looking over at Astrid. "Didn't you?"

Hiccup has changed, so much. He seems more confident. The slight chubbiness in his cheeks is long gone, replaced with a structured jaw and slight stubble. His hair's the same only it's a little messy. He's grown at least a foot since the last time anyone saw him. The eyes, they've lost all traces of kindness in them, replaced with cold, hard stone.

He's not the same Hiccup that left Berk.

Not the same at all.

* * *

**A/N~ There's going to be OOC in the next chapter, mostly Hiccup. I'll have it up in a few days!**

**It took so long to figure out a name for that dragon. **

**Thanks for reviewing! Keep it up! **


	4. The Return

**Hey! Sorry it took longer than usual, I was planning the rest of the story and writer's block.**

**For those who don't know the dragons name is pronounced (Echo-tree)**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 4 - The Return**

* * *

Everyone is whispering.

Nobody can believe he's actually here. They all thought he was dead, but he's standing right there in front of them.

Astrid's trying to contain her smile. He kept his promise! He came home! But Stoick stands there frozen. His son is alive! Then he gets furious. His own son spoke to him completely disrespectful. Hiccup stands there, rubbing Toothless' head and looking at Astrid and Stoick, waiting for them to speak.

But no one says a word. They all stand there in silence. Then, Toothless roars at Hiccup. "What? No!" Hiccup whisper yells at the dragon. "Are you crazy? They were about to go hunt one!"

"Where have you been all these years, son?" He almost spits the word out, interrupting the little argument. Hiccup looks back to Stoick.

"Well, after you basically kicked me out, I was flying with Toothless and found a secluded island. We set up camp there only to find it was already inhabited, by dragons. I decided to stay, because I knew no one would think look there, it's not on any map. After a few months I figured if I was going to stay there, might as well learn the language, right? It was too easy. Then more dragons showed up, ones I recognized. Yours." He pauses. "They wouldn't leave my side, seeing as I was the only thing they knew. Everything was all fine until the Echotri escaped from the island somehow. Tried to stop it, but it was too fiesty. So I let it go. Then I get word saying it was headed for Berk. I didn't want to come back, it was his idea." He gestures to Toothless.

Astrid's heart sinks. He didn't come back because of his promise, he came for a dragon. A damned dragon. "So, you didn't come to save your people? You came for a damned dragon?" She says, anger present in her voice.

"The dragon is very dangerous." He nods. "But that about sums it up."

That's it. Astrid runs toward him, and tries to throw a punch directly at his face. But he catches her fist in record time and spins her around, arm twisted against her back. He laughs at her pathetic attempt. "You still think you can beat me up, milady?" He says into her ear, sending chills down her spine.

This is not the Hiccup she once knew, no. This person is much colder. What happened to her Hiccup? The kind one, full of warmth. This stranger's heart is ice.

He lets go of her, and she backs away, cradling her sore arm.

Stoick is angry about how Hiccup handled Astrid, he walks in front of Astrid, facing Hiccup. "If you're going to help us, there's going to be a few rules." Stoick says darkly. "Rule one, none of that." He gestures to Astrid who's still holding her arm. "Rule two, you are not to leave the island without telling me. Rule three, don't screw up. Got it?" Hiccup gulps, any confidence he had before now gone without a trace. "Y-yes sir." He stutters.

Astrid sees the old Hiccup in his eyes and almost smiles. Almost.

"Stoick, if we're going to catch this dragon, I'm gonna need to leave the island for a day or so." Hiccup says. Stoick glares down at the boy. "And why would you need to do that?" He questions.

"Why, to bring your dragons back of course."

* * *

Stoick let Hiccup go and get the dragons, threatening him if he didn't come back.

But sure enough, the next day they see figures in the distance. It's Hiccup and Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf 'n' Belch, and a few other dragons. When they land, the once riders run to their dragons, hugging them. They were happy to see their dragons again. Hiccup landed and took off his mask, a goofy buck-toothed smile on his face.

He feels a tap on his shoulder and automatically has his dagger out, whipping around. When he sees it's Stoick, he puts the blade back. "Sorry, it's a habit."

Stoick nods. "Thank you for bringing the dragons back."

Hiccup smiles, "I brought one you might be interested in." He lets out a roar, and a Thunderdrum comes bounding over. It's Thornado! Thorando sees Stoick and nudges against him, happy to see his rider again.

"Where did you find him?" Stoick asks Hiccup, rubbing Thornado's head.

"He's been on the island since I got there." Hiccup says.

Astrid come up behind Hiccup and punches him in the arm. "Ow. Seriously?" He rubs the spot, glaring at her. "You nearly broke my arm, you deserve that." Astrid snaps.

"Well you-" He suddenly stops, looking dizzy. He holds his head in his hands, face contorts in pain. "Hiccup?" The voice sounds far away to Hiccup. He falls to his knees, still holding his head. "Hiccup!" The voice is distorted. He tries to open his eyes, but he can't see anything. His head is swirling. "Hey! Hiccup! Hiccup, look at me!" Someone has their hands on his shoulders. He can't recognize the voice for it is so distorted. Pictures flash in his mind. The pain finally ceases and Hiccup manages to open his eyes. No one sees, but his eyes flash a pale blue. He shakes his head and they return back to their forest green.

He slowly stands up and takes a deep breath.

"Hiccup?" He can hear the voices clearly now. "Are you okay?" It's Astrid and Stoick.

He clears his throat. "Yeah, yeah. I'm-I'm fine."

"What happened?" Astrid asks. Hiccup shakes his head, "I don't know." Stoick is concerned, "Maybe we should take you to Gothi-" Hiccup interrupts, "No! No, I'm okay, seriously." They both look at him skeptically.

"If you say so…"

* * *

It looks at the human standing in front of it. It's a stupid viking. This will not do.

"_You are too weak._" The thing says in the human's mind. "_Go back to your home and forget all of this._" The human nods and walks off.

"_Find me another._" It sends out.

* * *

Astrid walks down the dirt road. She's not as happy that Hiccup's back as she thought she would be. She's more… afraid. She doesn't know what's happened to her Hiccup, the one who left, this Hiccup is almost completely different.

She doesn't know what to think of him anymore. One minute he's fine the other he's completely in pain, then he's just downright cold, then he's almost his normal self again. It's like he's four different people all at the same time.

Astrid wants to talk to him but…. She hates to admit it, even to herself.

She's scared.

She's scared of Hiccup.

But she brushes that thought away as she walks into the training academy. Hiccup's there, but doesn't see to notice her presence. He's mumbling something to himself, looking at the wall. She tries to get closer to hear what he's saying, not wanting him to notice her, but his words are jumbled together and she can't make them out.

He's talking to the wall. Okay, Astrid's getting creeped out.

"Hey, Hiccup." She says, deciding to talk to him.

He looks up, startled. "Oh, hey Astrid."

She walks over to Stormfly's cage and opens it, letting her dragon out. Stormfly roars and walks over to Toothless. "So, who were you talking to?" Astrid asks him, getting Stormfly's saddle out.

He looks at her confused. "What are you talking about?" She attempts to put the saddle on Stormfly, but the dragon jumps away. "You were talking to someone a minute ago. Or, more like talking to the wall."

"I wasn't talking to anyone, Astrid." Hiccup says.

She gives up trying to put the saddle on Stormfly, puts the saddle back, and looks at Hiccup. "Yeah, you were." She says to him.

"Astrid, I never said anything until you got here."

"Yes! You did! What, do you not remember or something?" She gets frustrated. Hiccup groans. "I think you're going crazy. Astrid, I did not say anything." She walks up to him, and slaps the back of his head. "You said." Slap. "Something." Slap. "Just remember." He catches her hand before she can slap him again.

He looks her straight in the eye. "Don't slap me." He growls. She tries to yank her hand out of his grip, but he won't let go. "Let me go, Hiccup." Astrid says calmly. She struggles to get out of his grip, "Hiccup!"

He suddenly pales, as if realizing what he's doing. He lets go quickly and backs away. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what-" He stops suddenly. His eyes are squeezed shut. His breaths are ragged. Toothless' eyes become slits and he backs away from Hiccup.

"Toothless, what's wrong?" Astrid says, she's never seen him act this way towards Hiccup. Ever. If Toothless was acting that way towards Hiccup, she backed away from him.

He suddenly looks up at Astrid, and he's completely fine. But something's…off.

"...Hiccup?"

He doesn't respond. He just stares blankly at her for a few seconds, then walks out of the training academy, leaving Astrid and Toothless behind.

What is going on with Hiccup?

* * *

Stoick and Thornado are flying around Berk, patrolling when Stoick sees something walking out of the forest. "Thornado, down." He says to his dragon. When they land, Stoick looks around for the figure. It walks out of the shadows.

"Gobber?"

* * *

**A/N: I know, bad chapter. I'll probably re-write it. I'm not really proud of this chapter but.. yeah.**

**Review?**


	5. The Dragons

**Hi! I'm back! It's my birthday :)**

**Thanks for the reviews and stuff I love reading them!**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 5 - The Dragons**

* * *

Stoick and Thornado land near Gothi's hut, they're carrying a passed out Gobber. Stoick drags Gobber off the dragon and into Gothi's hut. When he gets inside he sees Gothi patching Hiccup's arm up. She's finishing off stitching the wound closed when she hears Stoick enter.

"What happened to you, Hiccup?" Stoick asks, dropping the still unconscious Gobber on a cot.

"Just another flying crash, no big deal." Hiccup says, wincing when Gothi pulls a bit too roughly tightening the stitches.

Stoick's brow furrows. "Toothless has been here in the village all day. What dragon were you riding?" Hiccup is about to answer when Astrid bursts in, panting. "Stoick! There's something wrong with…." She trails off when she sees Hiccup sitting there.

"Wrong with…?" Stoick says.

"Nothing." Astrid says, giving Hiccup a suspicious look.

Hiccup glares back at her and jumps down from where he's sitting and walks past her, brushing her shoulder as he passes. She glares at nothing, then looks at Stoick.

"Where'd you find Gobber?" She asks.

"I was patrolling and saw him wandering in the woods. He passed out before I could ask him anything." Stoick says, looking at Gobber.

"Where could he have gone? And why?"

* * *

Astrid walks to the training academy to try and get Stormfly. Maybe today she'll let Astrid put the saddle on her and they can finally go flying. She's about halfway through the entrance when she hears a loud smack.

She looks and it's Hiccup-of course it's Hiccup-and Toothless.

Toothless growls at Hiccup. "Shut up you stupid dragon." She hears Hiccup say to Toothless. Toothless barks angrily at Hiccup. There's another loud smack. He just smacked Toothless.

Hiccup smacked Toothless.

Astrid walks in. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing." He says, stiffly patting the dragons head. Toothless growls deeply at him and backs away, towards Astrid.

Toothless is at Astrid's side, and he pulls on her tunic, away from Hiccup. "Hey, Toothless, let go." She tugs her tunic out of his mouth. Toothless continues to try and pull her further and further away.

"What is wrong with you?" Astrid says. Toothless roars at Hiccup, his eyes are slits.

"Come on, boy, it's me." Toothless growls and pounces on Hiccup.

* * *

After Gobber is taken care of, Stoick goes to talk to Astrid. He wants to know what he was going to tell him earlier. He finds her in the train academy, talking to someone. He can't make out words, so he gets closer, trying to stay hidden.

"What is wrong with you?" He hears Astrid. He hears a small roar, it sounds like Toothless.

"Come on, boy, it's me." It's Hiccup. Wait, 'boy'? He never calls him that.

There's a growl, and Stoick hears Astrid let out a small scream. He can't tell what's happening, but what he's hearing is not good. "Toothless! Get off of me!" He hears a lot of growling, then that all too familiar high-pitched noise. That's when he decides to walk in to see Toothless try and hit Hiccup with a plasma blast, but Hiccup manages to roll out from under Toothless and avoid the blast.

"What's wrong with you?" Hiccup says as he does a tuck-and-roll to avoid another blast. He tries to get closer to Toothless, but fails, earning a burn on his forearm. He hisses in pain and looks at where it burned him. He can smell his burning flesh, but he continues to dodge Toothless' blasts until he has reachs his six-shot limit.

"All out of shots, huh?" Hiccup says, slowly walking to the angry Night Fury. He raises his good arm and outstretches his hand. Toothless looks at it for a moment before growling and snapping at it.

Stoick goes over to the dragon and puts hand on Toothless' head and the dragon instantly relaxes. "What in the name of Thor is going on here?" Stoick questions. Toothless growls at Hiccup, that's definitely not like Toothless at all.

"Toothless just started attacking Hiccup. I don't know, it's like he doesn't trust him anymore." Astrid says, she decides not to tell him about the smacking.

Hiccup takes a good look at his burned forearm. The skin is blackened and disgustingly peeling. It must hurt a lot, but he doesn't show it. Instead he glares at Toothless, hatred in his eyes. Hiccup roars at Toothless and Toothless snaps his eyes towards Hiccup, almost glaring. Toothless roars right back. This goes on for at least a minute, because Hiccup roars and Toothless goes silent. Hiccup reaches for the dagger in his armor. Toothless roars.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid asks carefully.

He doesn't answer. Instead he pulls the dagger out all the way, holding it in his hand, a white knuckled grip on it. He screeches at Toothless this time. Toothless cowers by Stoick's side, and he lets out a quiet roar.

"Are you threatening you dragon?" Astrids asks, glaring at Hiccup. This time he looks at her and gives a small smirk. "No." He says. "Something more precious."

Toothless whimpers. Hiccup looks back to the dragon, dagger still in his hand. Toothless roars again, and Hiccup roars right back. He lifts the dagger that's been resting in his hand by his side just slightly, making sure the Night Fury sees it. Toothless shakes his head, letting out a small whimper.

Hiccup eyes the dragon as he puts the dagger back in his armor. He then reaches his hand out, waiting for the dragon. Toothless reluctantly and slowly walks towards Hiccup. Astrid and Stoick watch in confusion. What on Earth did he say to him? Toothless presses his head against Hiccup's hand.

"How did you do that?" Stoick asks, very confused.

Hiccup just looks at him and smiles.

* * *

Astrid knocks on the door. Fishlegs answers and smiles. "Hey Astrid." She returns his smile. "Hey Fishlegs."

"Come in." He opens the door and she walks in.

"I need some help." She says once they're sitting.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I-It's Hiccup, actually." She says, looking down at her lap. His brow furrows, "Hiccup? What about him?"

She shakes her head. "I-I don't know. He smacked Toothless-" Fishlegs cuts her off. "He smacked Toothless?" She nods. "Weird, right? Then Toothless started attacking him earlier and he threatened Toothless, with what I don't know, He roared at Toothless then pulled his dagger out. I asked him if he was threatening his own dragon, like kill him you know? But he said, 'No, something more precious.' Do you have any idea what he could've meant?" She asks, looking up from her lap at him.

"Hmm. Can you imitate any part of the conversation between him and Toothless?"

She shrugs. "I'll try." She then attempts to roar like Toothless or Hiccup.

"It sounds like he said, 'play along, or your friend will be dead'." Fishlegs says, translating.

"Friend?" Astrid thinks. "Some precious to Toothless…"

"Hiccup."

"What?"

"Hiccup's precious to Toothless." Fishlegs says.

"What are you saying? That he threatened Toothless to kill himself? That doesn't sound like Hiccup at all." Astrid says, now she's even more confused than before.

"You've got to remember, Astrid, Hiccup's changed a lot since we last saw him. But I think that's what he meant. It's a little extreme, but I could be wrong."

She hopes he's wrong.

* * *

Hiccup goes to Gothi's tent. She looks up from Gobber to Hiccup, and sees his burned arm. She sighs and points to a cot for him to sit down. He sits, waiting for Gothi to finish with Gobber.

When she's done with Gobber, she walks over to Hiccup and inspects his arm. She shakes her head, and draws in the dirt. "You need to stop this." She has written. "I know, but it's not my fault." Hiccup responds after reading. Gothi grabs a small vial, and walks back to Hiccup.

She writes once more, "Then you need to tell them. They can help." Hiccup sighs, and Gothi starts to softly rubs the salve that was in the vial onto Hiccup's burn. "They won't understand. And how I've treated them, they'll never believe me. Let alone trust me." Once she's finished rubbing on the salve, she wraps the burn in gauze.

"Now don't go picking at that." She writes. "And at least think about telling them. They might understand."

Hiccup nods and thanks Gothi, walking out of the tent.

He knows he won't tell them. He just can't.

He sees Stoick, loading things into a satchel. He walks closer to see Stoick's loading weapons. To be more specific, dragon killing weapons.

"Are you planning to go somewhere?"

Stoick looks up, slightly alarmed. "That's none of your business, boy."

Hiccup cocks his head to the side. "Isn't it?"

Stoick gives the boy a glare, "No, it isn't."

"Okay," Hiccup says, nodding. "But if you're going after that dragon, it's gonna take a lot more than those puny weapons to kill it." Stoick stops loading the weapons. "Really? And how would you know?"

"I know more about that dragon than you think."

Stoick laughs humorlessly. "Oh really? Tell me then, what's its weakness?"

Hiccup looks at him seriously, "It's weakness is its helper."

* * *

"Let go!" Astrid says, struggling out of Toothless' grip. He's dragging her by her tunic and she's getting tired of it. She finally gets it out of Toothless' mouth, cringing in disgust. "You know dragon spit doesn't wash out." She glares at him, he gives her a gummy smile.

He's dragged her out in the forest, in the old, dead creepy part. "You had to drag me here, didn't you?" She sighs, she can't fly Toothless because the control for the tail is customized to Hiccup's metal foot. Great, time to walk and maneuver her way home.

She starts walking, Toothless following her. She has absolutely no idea how to get back to the village from here by foot, she's always been on Stormfly if she ever came near here. The place gives her chills. Every plant in sight is dead, hanging limply from its stem or branch. It is decaying, and falling at random times, often making Astrid jump and snap her head towards the noise. "Stupid damned forest." She mutters, wrapping her arms around herself. There's a chill in the air, well, more than usual.

She mutters some colorful curses towards Toothless for bringing her here, knowing she would have to walk back. Toothless nudges her, and she swats him away. "Quit it, you useless reptile." Despite her requests, Toothless keeps nudging her in a different direction. "Great. Thank you, Toothless. Now I have no idea which direction is Berk." She says, and just starts to walk in a random direction. She hears a growl.

"Toothless? Was that you?" She asks the dragon, but Toothless isn't listening. His ears are perked up, turned to the left. He starts to slowly walk towards whatever he's hearing. She follows him, not wanting to be alone after hearing that. After walking for a few minutes they come upon a clearing. Though, the clearing's not empty. The Echotri is standing there, breathing heavily, fangs bared and dripping venom. She then sees what it's looking at; Stoick.

He's lying on the ground, his face is contorted in pain. Astrid can tell he's trying not to scream in agony. He's clutching his side, there's blood oozing from in between his fingers. She's worried about him, but doesn't dare go to help him just yet. She doesn't want the dragon to know she's there.

So she and Toothless lurk in the shadows, waiting for it to leave. After a few minutes there's a dragon call, not one Astrid recognizes though, and the dragon flies away, leaving Stoick on the ground.

She rushes over to him once she makes sure it's far away. "Stoick? Are you okay?"

"No, the damned thing bit me!" He says, his voice raspy.

"It bit you? Jeez. Okay, um. Toothless, help me get him on your back." Astrid says, lifting Stoick the best she can, and Toothless helps best he can. Once they get him on Toothless' back, Astrid climbs on as well.

"Okay Toothless, take us home."

* * *

**A/N~ Sorry if this chapter was confusing. So... yeah. **

**Chapter 6 is about half written. It should be up later this week. **

**Review?**


	6. The Bite & Cure

**Hi! Finished this one quickly!**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 6 - The Bite & Cure**

* * *

Astrid drags Stoick off of Toothless, and Stoick groans in pain. "Sorry." She says, dragging him again towards Gothi's tent. It takes her a good few minutes to drag Stoick's heavy body to Gothi's tent. Toothless doesn't help this time, for whatever reason.

When she finally gets him into Gothi's tent, she's surprised to see Gobber awake and sitting up, speaking to Gothi. "What happened to him?" Gobber asks groggily. He must've just woken up, Astrid figures.

"I think he went after the Echotri and got himself bitten." Astrid says. Gothi walks over to Stoick to examine him. There's still a bit of venom on his tunic around where the still bleeding bite mark is. She touches it with her finger and inspects it. There's fear in her eyes when she recognizes the venom that's been injected into him.

She quickly writes in the dirt with her staff. "_You need to get the antidote quickly. He only has less than two days to live_."

Astrid's eyes widen at this. "Do you know how hard it is to find that dragon?" Gothi nods and writes again. "_It hides itself well._"

"Then how are we supposed to find it?" Astrid asks, then watches Gothi write.

"_Ask Hiccup._"

"Ask Hiccup? Are you _mad_?!" Astrid nearly shouts. She doesn't even want to go near Hiccup at this point, especially after what happened with Toothless, let alone speak with him. Gothi looks at Astrid, shaking her head, then writes once more. "_He's encountered this dragon, many times it seems. He will know a way to find it and get the antidote. He's Stoick's only chance right now._"

Astrid has nothing to say for a few moments. Finally, she sighs angrily. "Fine, for Stoick." She stomps out of the tent to find Hiccup. She mutters very colorful curses as she walks around the village, looking for him.

* * *

After a while of searching, she can't seem to find him. That damned boy is harder to find than Gobber on bath night. And that's hard to find. If there's any of the old Hiccup left, she has one last idea of where he might be. She walks to the docks overlooking the ocean.

And there he is, sitting on the edge, his leg dangling over the waves, his other tucked underneath him. He looks distant, like he's thinking about something. She sits down next to him, startling him. He sighs, "What is it?"

"Can't I just sit next to you-"

"Nope, not anymore. What's going on?" He interrupts Astrid.

She gives up the act. "Your Dad's sick." He shrugs, "And that's my problem… Why?"

"He got bit, by the Echotri." That seems to get Hiccup's attention. "And he need the antidote. Like, now." He looks at her. "And you expect me to just go and find it for him?" When she doesn't say anything he stands and starts pacing.

"That stupid, damned man. I told him not to go after it, I told him he wouldn't be able to kill it, but no, he didn't believe me. Now I'm expected to just go get the cure for him. Ugh." He groans.

"Come on, he's your father." Astrid stands and steps in front of him so he can't pace anymore. It is getting on her nerves.

"I know but-"

"No buts this time. You're the only one who knows how to find it. Please, Hiccup." Astrid says, looking him straight in the eye. He finally tears away from her gaze. "Fine."

She smiles, then punches him on the arm. "Ow! Seriously?" She nods, "That was for being a total asshole these past couple of days."

He smiles, knowing what's next. "And where's my kiss?"

She smirks. "Find the antidote and then you'll get a kiss." He frowns. "Whatever. Come on, let's go." He grabs her wrist and starts pulling her towards the forest.

* * *

They've been walking around the forest for about an hour. Astrid's feet are starting to hurt, but she doesn't say anything. She just keeps following Hiccup, and he's even starting to look a little lost. "Are we lost?" She asks.

He glances at her, "No, we're not lost."

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"Hopelessly lost." He replies, stopping and sitting down. Astrid sits in front of him. She rubs her tired ankles. It's quiet for a while, they're both thinking.

"You probably hate me." Hiccup's voice is so sudden, Astrid nearly jumps. She looks at the ground and says quietly, "I don't hate you."

"You should. I've given you every reason to." She looks up at him, and can see the old Hiccup in his eyes. She almost smiles. Almost.

"Hiccup-" He interrupts her. "No, I've been a total ass ever since I got back. And for that I'm sorry. I really am. But it's not entirely my fault." He's going to tell her. "It's because of-" _No, no, no, no, NO! Not now, please not now._ He thinks. He can't speak, his head is pounding. He closes his eyes.

"Because of what?" Astrid asks him. Hiccup looks up at her, and shakes his head. "Nothing, forget I said anything." He stands. "Come on, I think I know where it is now."

* * *

Gobber helps Gothi best he can take care of Stoick. He placed Stoick on a cot, since Gothi isn't strong enough to lift him. Gothi is mixing a medicine that's supposed to help ease the pain. She's finishing mixing it when Stoick stirs. He opens his eyes slightly and looks around.

"What happened?" He asks, trying to sit up. Gobber gently pushes him back down. "You got bit by that dragon. You need to rest."

"No, I need to find its...its… Damnit, what did Hiccup call it?" Stoick asks no one. "And I'ma kill….kill its.. thingy-do-happer." Stoick says in a loopy daze. Gobber tries his best not to laugh or smile, knowing he might get pounded later for it.

Gothi walks over to Stoick with the mixture. She has Gobber hold him down so she can pour it down his throat. Though, Stoick refuses, she manages to get at least half of it down his throat

"_The poison is starting to take effect._" Gothi writes in the dirt with her staff. _They need to hurry_, Gothi thinks.

* * *

Astrid follows Hiccup through a maze of trees, he somehow knows the way. Almost like he's walked it so many times before this. She frowns, and tries to keep up with his pace, which has quickened. He begins to walk slower after a few minutes of walking quickly. They finally stop and Astrid looks around where they've stopped. They're at the same clearing that Astrid found Stoick in.

"Are you sure its here?" Astrid asks, looking around for any sign of movement, any sign of life really. Hiccup gives no response, just stands there, almost waiting. Then she hears it.

The dragon's roar is shrill and throaty, making Astrid's ears ring. It lands in front of them, fangs bared. The blue of its scales is dirty, the eyes look almost… tired in a way.

Astrid couldn't believe her eyes when Hiccup just walks up to it and plucks five scales off the dragon. The dragon screeches in pain. "Don't be a baby, you stupid dragon." He says. Damn, Hiccup really must have encountered this dragon assuming from the way he speaks to it.

Hiccup walks to the mouth of the Echotri, and waits for it to open it's mouth. When it does he yanks out as many teeth as he can. Which is about three. "Are you CRAZY?!" Astrid shouts at him, quickly walking up to him and pulling him away from the dragon. The Echotri growls at them, eyes becoming mere pinpoints. That thing's clearly angry.

Hiccup wiggles his arm out of her grip. "Look, I need one more thing then we can run. Okay?" He doesn't even wait for an answer. He walks towards the claws, and roughly pulls one out. The dragon growls loudly at Hiccup, and he starts to back away slowly. "Okay, Astrid, time to run."

He grabs her arm and they sprint as fast as they can towards the village. The dragon doesn't chase them, it's far injured too much to move more than a step without pain.

They finally get to the edge of the forest where it meets the village. Hiccup stops her. They're both short of breath. She beings to walk into the village, but he grabs her wrist, stopping her. He smiles at her, "Woah, woah. I think you owe me a kiss."

She smiles and gives him a peck on the lips. She turns back to walk into the village but Hiccup grabs her wrist once more and twists her around. She's chest to chest with him. "A proper kiss, milady." He crashes his lips onto hers.

When they finally part, they're both panting and smiling. Still smiling, he lets go of her and walks into the village, glancing over his shoulder at her. She doesn't follow for a good few minutes, she's dazed. She blinks a few times, then walks into the village as well.

She goes to Gothi's tent where Hiccup has walked to, and he's lying out the items he took from the dragon just moments before. Gothi's inspecting the items, turning them around in her hands. She pokes Hiccup with the end of her staff getting his attention. She points the staff towards a stack of bowls, holds up two fingers, and Hiccup grabs two of them. When he hands them to Gothi, she crushes up the dragon scales in her mixing bowl and pours the pasty substance into one of the bowls.

She takes the dragon teeth and and cuts them in half, pouring the venom onto the paste. Then, she grabs an amber vial and pours a drop of its contents onto the paste and venom. Finally, she takes the claws and crushes them into a fine powder and adds it as well. She stirs it well.

Gothi stries in the dirt. "_Make sure Stoick drinks all of it._"

* * *

It takes a good two days for Stoick to finally wake up. He slowly opens his eyes, and looks around. Everything's a bit blurry, but at least he can open his eyes. "Stoick, can you hear me?" It's Gobber.

Stoick nods weakly as Gobber comes into focus. "Good. How are you feeling?" He asks. Stoick tries to sit up, and fails, lying back down. "My head's spinning. Wh-What happened?" He asks, rubbing his head.

"Well, you went after that dragon and yourself bitten." Gobber says pointing to Stoick's wound on his left side. Stoick groans. Everything comes back in flashes.

Then his vision focuses all the way and he sees _him_. He starts breathing fast, angry. He grabs the closest thing to him and chucks it at _him_. "You traitor! Get out! Get out!"

"Stoick! Calm down!" Gobber says, trying to hold him down. He looks over at Astrid who's standing near the door. "Astrid, get him out of here. He's making Stoick angry." Astrid nods and takes his hand and drags him out of the tent.

"What's a matter with you?" Gobber asks, frowning, and letting go of Stoick after Astrid drags him out. "It's all his fault! Everything is his fault!" Stoick says, making absolutely no sense. "Gothi, I think he's still a little loopy, can you give him something?" Gobber asks Gothi and she nods, grabbing a blue tinted vial and walking over to Stoick. Gobber hold him down while Gothi forces the mixture down his throat.

Stoick falls into a sleep muttering, "It's all his fault."

* * *

"Jeez, what's wrong with him?" Astrid asks. "I think he hates you now." Hiccup just shrugs. "I think he's always hated me."

"Well, he looked like he was about to murder you. You must've done something wrong, like _really_ wrong." Astrid says, and brushing her bangs out of her eyes, only to have them fall back into place.

Hiccup doesn't say anything, he's too lost in thought.

_They can't find out_. He thinks. _No matter what Gothi says_.

* * *

**So there's a little Hiccstrid moment for you :)**

**There's only a few chapters left :( All will be explained soon.**

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	7. The Beat-Down

**Hi! Thanks for the reviews!**

**I'm sorry its short. But the story's almost over, there's about three or four more chapters left :(**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 7 - The Beat-Down**

* * *

Astrid's feeding Stormfly when she hears a loud crash. She looks up just in times to see a body being thrown down the hill. She looks to see who threw them. It's Stoick. He's breathing heavily, anger present in his expression. His hands are balled into white-knuckled fists. He starts stomping towards the person he's thrown.

Astrid squints to see who it is, she takes a few steps towards them to get a better view. Stoick reaches the person before Astrid can see their face. He's picked them up by their collar. That's when Astrid finally recognizes their face. It's Hiccup. His face is beaten up, black and blue bruises and a split lip. His armor is dented and any other clothing on him is torn.

"Please," Hiccup practically begs. "Just let me explain." Stoick glares at the boy with pure hatred in his eyes. He raises Hiccup up in the air without a word and slams him to the ground, hard. Astrid can hear a loud crack from where she's standing, and she cringes at it.

Astrid moves as fast as she can, getting between Stoick and Hiccup before Stoick can get to him again. "What in the name of Thor are you doing?" She asks him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Astrid, move." She stands straight, "No." Stoick shoves Astrid out of the way and moves towards Hiccup.

Hiccup's trying to sit up, at least get up from the ground, but can't. His wrist is bent at an awkward angle. Stoick lifts him up by his hurt wrist, and Hiccup bites the inside of his cheek so hard he can taste blood to keep from screaming in pain. He decides not to beat Hiccup anymore, and he carries the poor boy to the small prison Berk has. He takes one more hateful look at Hiccup, and throws him into one of the cells, slamming the door and locking it. Astrid has followed him there.

"Why did you do that?!" Astrid cries out, furious at Stoick. "You have no reason to just beat your son up like that!" There's pure hatred in her eyes when she looks at Stoick.

"You don't know what he did." Stoick says quietly, not looking at Astrid.

"Then tell me! Tell me what he did that was so wrong that he deserved this!"

Stoick says nothing as she pushes Astrid out of the way and walks out of the small prison. Astrid gives a glare where Stoick was then looks to Hiccup.

He's scooted himself against the wall, probably afraid Stoick was going to hit him again. Stoick has never, _never_ blown up like that or done anything like that to Hiccup. She walks to the front, and looks around, making sure no one else is there or watching. She grabs the keys from the front and goes to Hiccup's cell and unlocks it. She walks to Hiccup and crouches down to his level.

"Hey," she says softly, not wanting to frighten him. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." Hiccup responds.

She doesn't believe him. "Sure you are. I'm going to get some bandages and then I'll be right back. Okay?" He nods.

When she gets back she carefully starts with Hiccup's wrist. She feels a twig of guilt in her chest when she has to set it back in place and he nearly screams. She wraps it up as gently as she can, but it's not too gentle because they need to be tight. She then checks him over for any other bad injuries, but he seems to be fine, he's got mostly bruises and the cut on his lip.

"You wanna tell me why your father did this to you?" She says.

He doesn't say anything.

She decides not to push him, and stands. "Okay, but you're gonna have to tell someone sooner or later." She says, walking out of the cell and closing the door behind her, locking it. "I'll be back later to change that bandage."

She walks out, leaving Hiccup behind.

* * *

"Stoick! What were you thinking? You could've killed him!" Gobber exclaims. He had just heard that Stoick beat his son.

"That was the plan."

"Are you insane? That's your son!"

"That's _not_ my son." Stoick glares at him.

"Then who is he?" Gobber asks.

"I don't know."

* * *

Astrid walks into Gothi's hut. "Gothi?" Astrid says. She sees Gothi taking care to an injured viking. Gothi looks up, hearing someone. "Could I get some more bandages?" She asks, and Gothi nods and points a bony finger to the cabinet where she keeps the bandages.

Astrid goes to it and opens it, grabbing some bandages. "Thank you Gothi!" Astrid says before leaving the tent.

On the way back to the small prison where Hiccup is, Astrid accidentally overhears two vikings talking.

"Did you hear? Stoick the Vast attacked his son!"

"He did?"

"Yeah! I heard he was planning to kill him too! Broke his arm!"

"Damn! Why would he do that?"

"I heard he thinks he's possessed!"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

Astrid doesn't listen to anymore, she sprints to her destination. She gets there, making sure no one else is around, and slips inside. She grabs the keys near the entrance and walks down to Hiccup's cell. She unlocks it and pushes the door open, stepping inside.

Hiccup's still where she left him, sitting up and against the wall, but he's fallen asleep. She smiles. She puts her hand on his shoulder and shakes him gently. This startles him. His eyes snap open and his good hand is around hers, twisting it before she can even blink. "Hiccup, ouch, it's me." Astrid says, trying to get out of his iron grip.

Once he realises who it is, he immediately lets go. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize.."

She cuts him off. "No, no. It's okay. I'd do that too if I went through what you have. I'm just here to change your bandage, remember?" He nods. "Okay, give me your wrist."

She carefully unwraps the bloodstained bandage, and sees what's underneath. It looks at least a little better than before. The bruise has faded a little, so it's purple and blue and yellow. Still not a pretty sight. "This might hurt a little." She warns him before wrapping the bandage tighter than before. Hiccup flinches, but doesn't make a sound. She tightens it a little more, making sure it won't unravel.

"How do you feel?" Astrid asks him, backing up a bit and sitting in front of him.

"Other than just getting beaten? Fine." He sighs. Astrid decides against asking him again why his father beat him up, correction, try to kill him. She'd just have to ask Stoick about that.

"You know he was trying to kill me right?"

"Yeah, yeah I know." She says. "You still won't tell me why, right?"

Hiccup looks away. "You'll find out soon enough."

* * *

Astrid goes straight to Stoick's house after the short conversation with Hiccup in the small prison. She doesn't bother knocking and just barges in. Gobber and Stoick are at the table discussing whatever the hell they even talk about anymore.

"Astrid! How many times have I told you to-"

She interrupts Stoick. "Were you _really_ trying to kill your own son?!"

Stoick's expression darkens. "You don't know what he did. What he's done."

"Then tell me why!"

"Just leave Astrid."

"No! Not until you tell me why." She says, crossing her arms in front of her chest stubbornly.

"I said leave Astrid." Stoick says, standing from his place. Astrid just glares and doesn't move from her spot. "I'm not discussing this, Astrid." She raises an eyebrow, and still doesn't move. "Astrid-" Gobber cuts him off, putting a hand out to stop him. He gives him a look then stands and walks to Astrid.

"Astrid, come on, let's discuss this outside" He says, putting a hand on her back and gently pushing her out of the house, making sure the door is closed. He leads her away from the house, so Stoick cannot hear them.

"Astrid, I need your help." Gobber says when they stop, taking his hand off her back.

"What's wrong Gobber?" Astrid's brows scrunch together. Gobber never needs help, never.

"It's Stoick. He's trying to plan Hiccup's execution."

Astrid gasps. "Why?"

Gobber shakes his head. "I don't know. I've managed to convince him to at least put it off until the Echotri is dead."

"But we can't defeat it without Hiccup. He's the only one who knows how to kill this thing!" Astrid says. "I know Astrid, that's why I need to convince Stoick to let Hiccup help. But he's so damn stubborn." Gobber says, a bit frustrated.

Astrid's silent for a moment, she's thinking hard. Then she looks at Gobber.

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

**Okay, bad chapter I know. Okay serious question.**

**Do you guys want a sequel?**

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	8. The Plan

**Hi! Only four chapters left :(**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**OOC & language**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Hiccup asks Astrid, very unsure of her plan. They're standing in front of his old home, the Chief's house. Astrid wants Stoick and Hiccup to 'talk it out.' And apparently Gobber's talked to Stoick.

"Oh, it'll be fine. Gobber's talked to him." Astrid says.

"He'll never go along with this." Hiccup warns.

"Oh, he will." Astrid assures him. At least, she sure hopes so. She knocks on the door, and has to hold Hiccup tightly on his forearm so he can't run away. It's not like he would get that far anyway, Astrid could tackle him in mere minutes.

Stoick opens the door, and he's _smiling_.

"Astrid, Hiccup! Glad you're here! Come on in." Stoick steps back and opens the door so they can get in the door. Hiccup reluctantly walks in behind Astrid. Stoick shuts the door.

"So, Stoick, did Gobber talk to you?" Astrid asks.

"Yes, he did, earlier, actually."

"And are you okay with this?" Stoick looks at Hiccup, smile faltering just the tiniest bit. "Yes. Actually, do you mind if I speak to my son alone?" Astrid looks unsure, but reluctantly agrees. "...Uh, sure. I'll be right outside the door if you need me." She walks out.

Once the door shuts Stoick's smile disappears and he glares at Hiccup. He steps closer to Hiccup, speaking in an angry whisper. "I do _not_ trust you one bit."

"I won't expect you to."

"Why did you have to bring this upon Berk? Why did you even come _back_?"

Hiccup doesn't answer for a moment, he's too frustrated to say anything. "You think I _wanted_ to come back? You think I _wanted_ any of this to happen? It wasn't _my_ fault I came back. And you should know that."

"Yes, I know exactly why you're here. I saw you, remember?"

"Actually, no. I don't, you wanna know why? Oh wait, you already do."

"If _it_ happens again, I will _not_ hesitate to kill you on the spot."

"Oh, please do. Then you'll get the honor of killing me and saving your village."

* * *

Astrid tries to listen in, but can't hear anything because of the thick door. _Stupid door_, she thinks, and sits on the wooden steps in front of the door. She puts her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, waiting for Hiccup to come out. Hopefully Stoick won't beat him up or try to kill him again.

And as if Thor has heard her wishes, Hiccup finally walks out, unharmed. She stands up, "How did things go?"

"It went well, I guess. He's not gonna kill me right now."

"That's better than yesterday." Astrid says, giving a small smile.

"Let's go get the other riders. We need to think up a plan." Hiccup says.

"Yeah….About that…"

* * *

Turns out, Fishlegs and Snotlout are the only riders left. The second dumbass twin got her ass kidnapped. She should've been more careful. And now Hiccup and Astrid to deal with Fishlegs and Snotlout, and they fight. A _lot_. This is going to be interesting.

When Hiccup and Astrid arrive at the training academy, Fishlegs and Snotlout are already arguing. As always. They're lucky enough to arrive in the middle of a verbal fight.

"Well at least I'm not a blubbering…" Snotlout can't think of a comeback. "..._reader_."

Fishlegs scoffs. "At least I _can_ read."

"Why _read_ about stuff when you can be out there fighting the things _you're_ inside reading?"

"So you know what you're up against, you sludge-bucket." Fishlegs fires back without missing a beat.

"Okay!" Astrid says a little too loudly. She glares at the two of them. "I think that's enough fighting for now." Snotlout and Fishlegs don't say anything, but glare harshly at each other. Astrid rolls her eyes at them.

"We need a plan if we're going to defeat this thing." Astrid says, and turns to Hiccup. "Hiccup, do you know its weakness?"

He nods. "It's the helper."

"The what?"

"Oh, that makes sense!" Fishlegs says. "It's connected to whoever or whatever is helping it. The helper seems kind of like its lifeline. Killing the helper will ultimately weaken the Echotri to the point that we can kill it. Am I correct?"

"You're right Fishlegs." Hiccup says. "But the hard part is actually _finding_ the helper. It took me two weeks last time I faced the Echotri just to find the helper. It can be anyone or anything you trust."

"Are you saying it's one of the vikings?" Astrid asks.

"Or our dragons, yes."

"Well, I'm not scared of no _helper_. It doesn't scare me one little bit." Snotlout says proudly. Fishlegs, Hiccup and Astrid roll their eyes at Snotlout's cockiness.

"Really? 'Cause, the helper could be Hookfang." Fishlegs says.

Snotlout scoffs, "I would _know_ if it were Hookfang, I see Hookfang everyday. How do _you_ know it's not Meatlug?"

"I _know_ becaus-"

"Damnit! Shut your stupid damned faces! We need to find this helper and we can't do that with you two fighting all the damn time! So I suggest you shut up before I punch you into next month!" Astrid shouts, sick of the fighting. They dare not say a word, because they know she really _will_ knock them into next month she's that mad.

Once she knows they won't fight anymore, she turns back to Hiccup. "How do we find the helper?"

"Well, first you gotta figure out is it a dragon, or a person?"

"Hmm, I've noticed Toothless acting weird lately." Fishlegs says.

"Has he?"

Astrid looks at Hiccup like he's stupid. "Do you not remember the other day?"

"Oh, yeah." He says. "But he's been acting like that for a while, before we came back to Berk." Astrid looks at him skeptically, she knows he's lying to her through his teeth.

"Oh, really? Cause the conversation you two had said otherwise."

"What are you are talking about?"

"I had Fishlegs translate it."

"Astrid. I don't know what you're talking about. I never said anything to Toothless." Hiccup's head throbs, but he ignores it. He knows what happens next. And, man, does he hate it.

"You're lying! You threatened your own _life_ to get Toothless to listen to you!"

"Dude, that's low." Snotlout says. "And, trust me, I know low."

"He does." Fishlegs says, actually _agreeing_ with Snotlout.

"You wanna know _why_ I did that? Fine. I'll just tell you. It's because _I_ slipped up. _I_ almost killed Toothless one day because I wasn't careful enough! And now he doesn't trust me anymore! So now, threatening my own life is the only way to get him to listen to the simplest request! My once best friend hates me, my father wants to kill me. I didn't even want to come back to Berk! I _hate_ it here! The people don't understand anything and I have to deal with you! And now I have to deal with this _fucking_ Echotri, _again_! This damned dragon just won't fucking die! So yes. Blame it on me! Blame it ALL on me!"

Hiccup is seething with anger. "Are you happy now?! Did you get the explanation you were looking for?!"

No one breathes a word. They're shocked by his outburst. That was _definitely_ not the explanation she was looking for.

"Now, if you're done putting the blame on _me_, I suggest we make a plan."

* * *

"Are you ready?" Hiccup asks. It's the next day, and no one mentions his outburst. Toothless is reluctantly by his side. Stoick, Gobber, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout are holding their weapons, freshly sharpened and ready for a battle, with their dragons behind them.

"Let's go."

Stoick leads the way, claiming to remember where he saw it last. No one objects and they follow him. It's deadly silent between the six vikings. After Hiccup's blow up the day before, the riders were very careful not to do or say anything to make him mad.

Astrid still has her suspicions.

After a good hour of walking, Gobber pipes up. "Uh, Stoick. I think we're lost."

Stoick glares at Gobber. "I know where I'm going, Gobber."

Stoick turns back around and keeps walking. Gobber rolls his eyes.

Another hour goes by and this time Hiccup speaks up. "Stoick, we're going the wrong way."

"Oh, are we?" Stoick stops and asks the boy.

"Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure it's that way," Hiccup points to the west.

"Fine. If you think you know so much, then how about _you_ lead the way."

"Fine. I will." Hiccup turns and walks the right way. In a matter of minutes they're at the clearing. What they find there shocks them.

"Ruff?"

"Tuff?"

* * *

**Woah, Hiccup's mad. Fight scene coming up, also some feels. **

**Heehee. Figured it out yet?**

**Review?**


	9. The Fight

**Hi! Three more chapters left :(**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 9 - The Fight**

* * *

Ruffnut and Tuffnut are standing in front of the Echotri. They're standing in a way almost as if they're protecting it. The only thing is, they don't look like normal Ruffnut and Tuffnut. It's because of their eyes, they are a deep purple.

Astrid walks to them slowly, thinking she can bring them out of their trance. "Hey, Ruff. It's me As-" Hiccup pulls her back before she can get too close. "What are you doing?"

"Don't go near them, they'll only lure you to the Echotri. Don't let it touch you. If it touches you, you'll be under the Echotri's control as well."

"Are they the helpers?" Fishlegs asks.

"No," Hiccup responds. "Look at their eyes, they're just in a trance, so their eyes are violet. The helper's eyes are a pale blue, and also, there's only one helper, not two." The dragons all growl at the Echotri, they seem like they feel threatened.

"Toothless," Hiccup says, looking at his dragon. "Go for its weak spot." He points to a place on the Echotri, and Toothless fires a plasma blast at the Echotri, and it wails in pain.

Snotlout doesn't listen to any of Hiccup's warnings and charges the dragon, shoving Ruffnut and Tuffnut out of the way. "Snotlout! No! Stop!" Hiccup shouts, but it's too late. The Echotri wraps it's claws around Snotlout. "Hey! What are you doing? HOOKFANG!"

Hookfang charges the dragon, but the Echotri catches Hookfang as well. Hiccup groans, "Good job Snotlout. Now it's got a dragon on its side."

Snotlout and Hookfang suddenly stop struggling. The Echotri sets them down and they face the others. Their eyes are now violet as well. Snotlout climbs on Hookfang, and Hookfang catches himself on fire. Stoick and Gobber draw their swords out, Stoick steps towards Snotlout and Hookfang, beginning to raise his sword. Hiccup stops him by putting his arm in front of Stoick. "Don't do it, I know how to reverse it."

Hiccup steps towards Snotlout and Hookfang carefully, everyone watching him in confusion. He's in front of Hookfang when he utters some words that can only be heard by Snotlout and Hookfang. Snotlout and Hookfang blink a few times, and their eyes return to their normal color. "Ugh," Snotlout groans. "What happened?"

"How did you do that?" Astrid asks, and Hiccup just looks at her but doesn't answer.

The Echotri wails an ear-splitting roar. Everyone except Hiccup covers their ears. Hiccup steps _closer_ to it, but not close enough for it to grab him. "Why are you here?" He asks it, and it roars in response.

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. What's the _real_ reason?"

Another roar, this time more angry.

"Well too bad, cause you can't do that. I won't let you, _ever_."

The Echotri tries to grab Hiccup, but he simply moves out of the way. It keeps trying to grab him and Hiccup keeps dodging until it suddenly stops after a minute. The Echotri lets out a low, menacing roar. Hiccup looks like he's been punched in the face.

"You wouldn't dare."

"What's it saying?" Gobber asks.

"It's threatening."

"Well, what's it threatening?" Astrid asks.

"Something precious."

Hiccup and the dragon continue with whatever they're arguing about when the Echotri loses its controlling grasp on the twins' minds since it's so caught up in arguing with Hiccup.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut suddenly stagger where they're standing and hold their heads, groaning. "Ugh, what happened?"

"I think we got kidnapped."

"Cool!"

"Yeah!" They head butt. Everyone carefully goes to them, asking if they're okay. Everyone except Hiccup. He is still deep an argument with the Echotri that seems to get worse by the minute. Hiccup has switched to the dragon's roar, he must not want the others to know what the two are arguing about.

"Hey, Fishlegs." Astrid says, elbowing him to get his attention.

"Ouch. What Astrid?" Fishlegs says, rubbing his now sore arm. Man, her elbow is pointy.

"Can you translate any of what they're saying?" Astrid points to Hiccup and the Echotri.

"I can try." Fishlegs says, then tries to tune in to the constant roaring. He has a hard time because they're talking so fast, but he manages to pick up bits and pieces of the argument.

"So? Anything?" Astrid asks, looking from Hiccup and the Echotri to Fishlegs.

"Just bits and pieces." Fishlegs says. "Something about permission and killing them all. Whatever that could mean."

The arguing suddenly stops, Hiccup standing there his mouth agape. Everyone notices the sudden silence and turns to look at the two.

"Y-you can't do that." Hiccup stutters, switching back to normal language, wait. Stutters? Something must be _really_ wrong if _Hiccup_ is actually _stuttering_.

"You have no right!" Hiccup says, pointing a finger and stepping even closer to the Echotri. The Echotri simply roars.

"That-that's why you're doing this?! Well, it's not Berk's fault! Why take it out on them?"

The Echotri lets out an angry screech. "Because you lost something _precious_ to you, everyone else has to as well right?" He's about five feet away from the dragon now.

"Hiccup, I think you're too close.." Astrid says stepping towards him a little bit, but Hiccup just waves her off. Well, at least he didn't flat out ignore her this time.

The Echotri suddenly swipes at Hiccup, successfully catching him in its grasp. Hiccup squirms and tries to get out, but it's grip is too strong. It growls at Hiccup, and Hiccup stops squirming and glares at the dragon.

"I will never-" A terrible screech cuts him off. The glare falls off Hiccup's face, he now looks terrified. "You wouldn't." The Echotri picks Astrid up in a death grip. She struggles to breathe, but the grip gets tighter by the second.

When her face is starting to turn blue, Hiccup gives in. "Okay! Okay, you win! Just put her down!"

The Echotri seems to smile as he drops Astrid on the ground, and she's gasping in breaths. "What….did...you...just...agree...to?" She asks between breaths.

"I'm sorry," Is all can muster to her in a broken voice as the Echotri sets Hiccup down in front of it.

He takes a shaky breath. "I-I give you permission."

Pain explodes through Hiccup soon after he says those four words. He screams in utter agony, dropping down to his knees and hugging his middle. His body feels like it's on fire and freezing at the same time. No one moves, they're shocked and confused as to what's happening.

Stoick remembers. He said he would kill Hiccup on the spot if this happened again. But he can't bring himself to do it. He knows what will happen if he does.

Shame.

Sadness.

Anger.

Blame.

Yet peace.

But he also knows what will happen if he doesn't.

Pain.

Destruction.

Death.

Hiccup tries to speak through the pain, but it comes out a whisper. "Dad…._please_."

"What does he want you to do, Stoick?" Gobber asks.

"He wants me to kill him." Stoick says. Everyone gasps, but the dragons begin to growl at Hiccup, who is still in white hot pain.

"Now….._please_...before it's too late," Hiccup manages out through all the pain. "You _have_ to…...now."

"I will not, Hiccup." Stoick refuges.

"You do it….or….. the dragons….will." Everyone turns to the dragons. Each dragon is getting ready to fire everything they've got at Hiccup. Even Toothless. The riders go to their dragons, Astrid goes to Stormfly and Toothless and they try to calm their dragons down. But with no luck, the dragons only push their riders aside.

Hiccup gives one last scream in agony. And then the dragons fire all they've got at him.

* * *

Once the smoke clears, Stoick goes to Hiccup. "Hiccup!" He drops to his knees and raises the boy's chest to his ear. When he doesn't hear the thumping sound he never thought he'd wish to hear, his heart drops.

He puts Hiccup back on the ground gently, as if he'd break him. His head hangs, his eyes looking at the ground.

"No…" Astrid breathes, and she covers her mouth with her hands. "He can't be…"

Gobber walks to Stoick and puts a hand on his shoulder gently. "I'm sorry, Stoick."

"Yeah," Stoick says in a broken voice that no one has ever heard him use before. "Me too."

* * *

**Yeah, that just happened. **

**Don't hate me!**

**Review?**


	10. The Aftermath

**Hi! Two more chapters left :(**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**OOC**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 10 - The Aftermath**

* * *

The day after was awful. It was full of tears.

The second day was just as bad. It was full of silent grieving and isolation.

The third day is the worst part of it all, it's the funeral.

All of Berk attends, even if they didn't know Hiccup personally, they still come. There are even a few dragons.

Out of all of the vikings there, Stoick and Astrid take it the hardest. Astrid can't even go to the boat that holds Hiccup to say her last goodbye, she'll start sobbing uncontrollably. And Stoick… Stoick has been locked inside his home for the past two days. He can't look at his son's body as well. _A chief shows no emotion_, he reminds himself.

Before the boat is sent out to sea, they ask if anyone would like to say a few words. Astrid shakingly volunteers.

"Hiccup was the best person I've ever known." She starts, willing herself not to cry. "He was selfless and would do anything for anyone, good or bad, even if it risked his own life. He was the one who showed us dragons aren't evil, and if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have our dragons right now. He was amazing and I-I loved him. And I never got to tell him" Tears begin to fall down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," She has to walk away for a minute, she's starting to cry.

Stoick decides to not say anything, fearing he would cry as well. He reminds himself, _A chief feels no pain_.

"We have lost a great friend and kind soul today. May his soul find peace in Valhalla." Gothi speaks, as she does only during certain times. Some vikings go and push Hiccup's boat out to the sea.

Gobber, Stoick, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout shoot flaming arrows into his boat. They all watch the flaming boat float away. That's when the realization hits Stoick. And it hits him hard.

* * *

"Stoick, you can't stay in here forever." Gobber says to Stoick, who's sitting at the table with his head in his hands. He hasn't come out of his house since the funeral, which was three days ago now. "It's all my fault."

"How is this _your_ fault, Stoick?" Gobber asks, slightly confused.

"I was the one who told Hiccup not to come back five years ago. It's my fault he left, it's my fault this Echotri is attacking us. It's my fault that my son is dead."

Gobber shakes his head. "Stoick, you can't blame yourself."

"It's just-"

"You miss Hiccup, I know, I understand. But you can't beat yourself up about this. You have responsibilities, you can't neglect your village." Gobber interrupts.

Stoick sighs. "You're right Gobber."

"Aren't I always?"

* * *

"Astrid, come on. You're no fun anymore!" Tuffnut complains. Astrid has just walked into a trap the twins set to try and get her back to her normal self. She's now hanging upside down by her foot from a rope that's tied onto a tree.

"Just get me down from here." Astrid says angrily, crossing her arms.

"What, no threat?" Ruffnut says, confused.

"Not in the mood guys." Astrid says through her teeth. She's too sad to even threaten the twins. The _twins_. The two single most annoying vikings on Berk and Astrid couldn't even bother to threaten them. "Could you just let me down? _Please_?"

Astrid Hofferson just said please.

The twins sigh in defeat, well, at least they tried. They cut the ropes holding Astrid up, and she falls to the ground with a thud. She gets up, brushing herself off. "Can't you two just lay off the pranks for one day?!" Astrid grumbles and storms off.

"Why isn't anyone happy anymore?" Tuff says, kicking a rock.

"It's cause Hiccup died, remember?" Ruff says.

"Oh, yeah that." Tuff sighs.

"I have an idea!" Ruff says, smiling at her twin.

"You do? I didn't think that you think."

Ruff punches Tuff on the arm. "Well I do! We should throw a party! You know, to cheer everyone up!"

"Yeah, that's a good idea! Let's go!"

* * *

"What is this about?" Snotlout asks Fishlegs.

Fishlegs shrugs. "I don't know, the twins said be there at sundown." The twins have invited the whole town to the training academy. They didn't say why, just when. They seemed pretty excited.

"Let's just hope it's not another prank. I'm getting really sick of those." Astrid says as the walk into the training academy. They stop when they see what's been done to it. There's tables set up along the walls, with tons of food on it. Including yak-butter parfait, which Snotlout ran straight to and got a large helping before anyone else. There's Terrible Terrors singing, _singing_ around them. And the twins are standing in the middle of the training academy, waiting to see everyone's reaction.

"I gotta admit, this is impressive." Astrid says.

Snotlout hums in agreeance, he can't talk since he's stuffed yak-butter parfait into his mouth.

"We wanted to cheer everyone up. You've all been buzz kills the past few days." Tuff says, and Astrid punches him on the arm.

"Let's get this party started!"

* * *

Everyone is having a good time, even Stoick. Everyone forgets the tragedy of the past week, and they just have fun. They have fun, that is, until everything comes crashing down.

It happens in a blur. One moment everyone's talking and eating, then a blast of fire comes down on their party. It's caught the tables on fire, scorching all the food. "Hey! That was my yak-butter parfait!" Snotlout complains looking at his now scorched food.

"Everyone! Out!" Stoick yells as another blast comes out of nowhere. Everyone scrambles to get out of the training academy, tripping and shoving.

The blasts just keep coming, still there's no trace of who or what shot it.

The training academy is soon engulfed in flames, and Stoick is the last to come out, coughing.

"What could've done this?" Gobber asks.

They think for a second, and then go wide-eyed at the realization.

The Echotri's _not_ dead.

* * *

"Dagger?"

"Check."

"Gronckle Iron shield?"

"Check."

"Axe?"

"Check."

"Dragons?"

"Check."

"Dragon Nip?"

"I don't think we'll really need it, but check." Astrid says, watching Fishlegs finish checking off the last thing on the list. They are getting ready to go back. They're going to kill this thing off once and for all.

Astrid, Gobber, Stoick, The twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and their dragons, including Toothless, are the only ones going. Stoick thought it would be too dangerous to bring any of the other viking warriors.

Astrid is sitting on a boulder and sharpening her axe with a rock she found. Fishlegs is going around making sure everyone has everything they will need. Stoick is talking to Gobber about strategy. Snotlout is flexing his biceps, trying to look tough and not scared. The twins are just being annoying and goofing off as always, and now they're fighting over something stupid while their dragon watches in amusement.

Toothless bounds over to Astrid, knocking her over and roaring at her excitedly. She pushes him off of her, "What's wrong with you?" Shouldn't he be sad? Hiccup's dead.

"Is everyone ready?" Stoick asks the group.

"Yeah."

"Definately! Let's go kick some dragon ass!"

"Maybe we'll get a scar outta it!"

"Sure, whatever."

"M-hmm." Come their different replies.

Stoick leads the way, but gets them all lost in about fifteen minutes. Everyone groans. Hiccup found it last time, how are they supposed to now?

"How are we supposed to find this thing?" Astrid asks.

"I don't know, let's just keep going. We're bound to find it sooner or later."

They walk until Toothless suddenly stops, sniffing the air. "What is it Toothless?" Astrid asks the dragon. Toothless looks towards a bunch of trees, looks back at Astrid and nods towards where he was looking.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here, but I think he wants us to follow him." Tuffnut says. Astrid just gives him a look.

Toothless suddenly takes off, and everyone runs to keep up with the dragon. They soon reach the clearing. They gasp.

What's in front of them shocks them to their core.

* * *

**It was hard to write the funeral scene, to be honest.**

**Big explanation in the next chapter! Anything you would like explained?**

**Review?**


	11. The Explanation

**Hi! You're gonna hate me for this, read AN at the bottom**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**OOC, some language and a little High!Dragon**

**Disclaimer~ I do not own HTTYD**

**Chapter 11 - The Explanation**

* * *

The Echotri is there, yes. But it's what's on it that shocks them.

It's Hiccup that's standing on the dragon. But…. it's not Hiccup, it can't be. Hiccup died, they watched his body be burned, and sailed off into the sea.

And yet here he is, right in front of them. His appearance is strange. He's not burned at all, in fact, his body is radiating a pale blue glow. And his eyes are a pale blue.

"Pale blue eyes…. the helper." Astrid says under her breath.

"How is this possible?" Stoick asks.

Hiccup laughs, but it's not _his_ laugh. "You are such fools." He says, in a deep, echoey voice that is definitely _not_ Hiccup's. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out earlier. There were so many hints. He was a fighter, though. And yet, he knew he could never beat me."

"How is this possible?" Stoick asks again. "We burned Hiccup's body just a few days ago."

"And what a mistake that was. Your Hiccup is not dead, at least not yet. The flames never touched this body, because he gave me permission to use his body, this body will not get hurt as long as _I_ am in it. Because you thought he was dead, I got full control, no emotions to get in the way. And thank you for that, now I don't have to fight his soul anymore. It was getting to be such a hassle."

"Wait, so Hiccup's not dead?"

"No. His soul is just….dormant."

"So what? It was you this whole time?" Astrid asks.

"Oh no. I was only in control part of the time. Like when the Night Fury tried to attack me. And, if you're wondering, it was him who kissed you."

Everyone looks at Astrid. "You _kissed_ Hiccup?!"

"Really?" She growls. "You wanna go through this now?"

"No, go ahead. Talk while you're still alive." The Echotri says.

"Why are you even doing this? What's your problem?!" Astrid asks, starting to get mad.

"What did you just say?" Hiccup's body floats -yes floats- to the ground in front of Astrid.

Astrid's not even fazed. "I said, what's your problem? You don't have _any_ right to attack Berk! What did we ever do to you?!" He grabs her wrist, twisting her around and holding it in the middle of her shoulder blades. Astrid bites the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out in pain. "Oh, you did nothing. It was your friend. He killed my family, the ones I loved the most. And now, I intend to kill his starting with the one he loves the most. Can you guess who?"

"I don't know, Toothless?" Astrid says.

"Close." She can feel his breath on her ear. "_You_." He breathes, and it sends chills down her spine. He shoves her face first onto the hard dirt. "Astrid!" Stoick rushes towards them, but he puts up a hand, stopping Stoick. "Come any closer and I'll make her suffer a thousand times over."

Stoick backs off.

"Any last words?"

"Hiccup, if you can hear me, I love you."

"That's sweet. Now, it's time to die." He raises a glowing hand and brings it down.

But it never reaches Astrid.

Her wrist is released suddenly, she gets up, and turns around to see him at his knees, clutching his head with his eyes squeezed shut. "No! NO! This...isn't...possible!"

"What's happening?"

"I don't know."

He opens his pale blue eyes, and they flash to forest green, then back to the pale blue. Then they close again, and a scream rips from his throat.

Suddenly, he puts his hands on the ground, and is breathing heavily. He looks up at Astrid, his eyes the beautiful forest green.

"Hiccup?" She asks.

Hiccup nods, swallowing. "Look, I don't have long. I want you to run as fast as you can away from here." His voice is hoarse. Astrid shakes her head. "No, I'm not leaving you."

"You have to. It's gonna kill you, and I can't let that happen."

"Then too bad."

"Astrid, just go." He shakes and his eyes fade back to the pale blue. And just like that he's gone again. "Now," the deep, echoey voice comes out of Hiccup's mouth. "Where were we?"

* * *

"Why are you doing this?!" Stoick asks him.

"I've told you already, can't you hear anymore old man?"

"You can't take your sadness out on others! It's not right!"

"And?! It's called revenge old man."

"Well revenge isn't always the answer!"

"I'm done with you!" He fires some sort of blue fire at Stoick, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. What he doesn't see is Gobber sneaking behind him, towards the dragon with Dragon Nip in his hands. Gobber puts the Dragon Nip near the Echotri's nose, and Hiccup's face gets a drowsy smile and his pupils grow large.

"What is that?" He says, giggling in his high.

"Dragon Nip." Gobber answers.

"Told you we'd need it!" Fishlegs says to Astrid, who just glares at Fishlegs. "We can ask him questions now and he'll answer truthfully."

"Really? Let me try." Snotlout says. "Hey, dude. What do you think of me?"

"I think you're a big-headed little piece of shit." He slurs, and everyone snickers. Snotlout huffs and crosses his arms, looking away.

"Let's ask something useful. Hmm. Why did you really come here?"

"To get revenge." He slurs.

"Why?"

"The one you call Hiccup got my family killed."

"How?"

"He trained my family and went after people he called Outcasts. They killed my family."

"That dumbass! He knows he can't go up against them alone!"

"More like dip shit." He giggles. "Dip shit, I like that."

"Will you let Hiccup go?"

"Hmm, let me think about that." He pretends to think. "I don't think soooo. You'd have to kill me and riiiisk killing your friend. Is it reeeally worth the riiiisk?"

"What do you think Fishlegs?" Astrid asks him.

"Well, there's about a 58 percent chance Hiccup will die, and a 42 percent chance he'll live."

Astrid shrugs. "Good enough for me." She grabs the dagger that she's kept hidden away in her clothing and throws it at the dragon. It hits it straight in the heart, and the dragon and Hiccup scream/wail in agony.

Hiccup's eyes fade back to forest green as he collapses. Astrid rushes to him, and puts her ear to his chest. She breathes a sigh of relief when she hears the thumping of his heart.

"He's alive."

* * *

"Gothi is he going to be alright?" Stoick asks the old woman for what seems like the millionth time. And once again she doesn't answer. She's been mixing things ever since they brought Hiccup to her. She's also been refusing to answer any of their questions. She's been scarily silent.

Gothi grabs another ingredient and puts it into the bowl with crushed spices, herbs, and whatever else is in there. She mixes them again, adding a bit of clear liquid that Stoick hopes is water.

"Gothi! Can't you tell us anything?" She shakes her head and she finishes what ever she is mixing. She goes to Hiccup who's laying on a cot still unconscious, and she forces it down his throat, awake or not.

Hiccup's body suddenly spazzes, and Stoick rushes to the boy, only to be stopped by Gothi's bony hand. He looks at her in confusion, and she gives him a this-is-supposed-to-be-happening look. He glances at Astrid and Gobber behind him, then looks back to Hiccup. Hiccup stops spazzing, and his mouth parts just the slightest.

A wisp of pale blue smoke comes out, disappearing into the air.

"Gothi, what happened? When is he going to wake up?" Stoick asks, very confused at this point.

Gothi finally writes in the sand.

"_He may not wake up. But if he does, he won't be Hiccup._"

* * *

**I know I said there was gonna be another chapter after this, but I don't think there's gonna be. I may or may not write a sequel, I'm not sure yet what the main story line would be. I'm sorry for leaving this gigantic cliffhanger! But keep your eye out for a sequel, I think there is going to be one. So, thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! They made me smile even when I wasn't happy. This story was so fun to write, and now I have tears in my eyes cause it's probably over.**

**BUT**

**I ****_am_**** starting a new story, titled "Crumbled." Which will have Evil!Hiccup, I don't know why he's so fun to write. Keep your eye out for it! Just a question for it, what kind of dragon do you think Heather would have?**

***gross sobbing* Review?**


	12. Update and SEQUEL!

**Hi! Remember me?**

**As some of you know, I've discontinued "Crumbled." I'm kind of bummed about it, but I just wasn't putting my heart into it anymore, I'll probably pick it back up in December. Okay, now some news you've been waiting for. **

**THE SEQUEL!**

**I've been working on it this past month, and have rewritten it TWICE. TWICE THAT'S HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT THIS STORY. I had to re-read this story for some parts for the sequel. Did you really think I was going to leave ya'll hanging like that?**

**Eh, I ****_was_****.**

**The first chapter is written, I just have to edit and tweak it just a bit. But guess what!**

**IT WILL BE UP TOMORROW!**

**IT'S CALLED "If I Stay" {NOT BASED ON THE MOVIE/BOOK 'IF I STAY' AT ALL!}**

**Here's the despriction:**

**" '****_If he wakes up, he will not be Hiccup.' _****Gothi was right. When Hiccup wakes, he remembers nothing. Not Astrid, not Stoick, not even Toothless. Which makes it even easier for an old enemy to get his revenge. And this time, they won't hesitate."**

**I think I'm more excited to write this than you are to read it! The only bad news about the sequel is it won't be updated every 3/4 days like "Stay With Me" was. It will probably be once a week maybe two.**

**But I will NOT abandon it. **

**I promise.**

**So, I'll be back!**


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